Balayage and Men

The recent rise of the Dandy in fashion can only be a good thing for hairdressers and barbers because with that comes a huge opportunity to up-sell product and colour.

So what do you think about men and hair colour – is it a growing market and one worth chasing, or is it something that’s just an add on?
Before we go on, here are some statistics from my friends at L’Oreal Professionnel:

The number of men who regularly colour their hair is 11%, not a bad number, but plenty of room to grow (based on men aged 18-60 who are users of skincare /styling and shaving products.)
40% of these men are aged 18-29 years old, that’s a good number!
The number of men who are colouring their hair decreases as they get older compared to women, presumably due to the acceptance of going grey – is it the rise of the silver fox or is it that they don’t want to look obviously coloured?

I hate to see a man who is older with hair that looks coloured (think Ronald Reagan!) and often feel that a blended colour look is better than a solid coloured look, so I tend to use more ashes and lower volumes of developer to stop the orange tones appearing, my all time favourite product is Redken camo colour as it’s only 5mins to develop and is definitely on the cooler side, so it can be done at the back wash and doesn’t make a guy feel uncomfortable in the salon. I believe the older guys want to still look fresh and relevant so it’s up to us to sell men’s hair colour and sell it differently.

Younger guys are a much easier sell as the statistics prove but again, it’s as I’ve always said, making the colour menu fresh and exciting to the consumer and men is a helpful tactic. Maybe a separate men’s menu or category could work for you with different techniques and updated names, after all we want to make money and we sell an image.

In the salon, Andrew Hampshire, a professional dancer and regular client came in to see me and wanted something lighter but not overwhelming with his modern look. I felt something like ‘New York Lights’ would be ideal for him, it’s a quick service and I think that’s what most guys want, and it’s low maintenance which we both like.

‘NYL’ came about from my stint in the States. Painting on some Balayage highlights at the backwash is a quick money making service and is good for men or women;
I find the guys really like it and they just say “can I have some NYLs”, which sound very fresh and different to highlights. I always do it after the haircut.

It also seems the boys are loving being blonde bombshells at the moment; you only need to see how popular Next management’s Lucky Blue Smith is with his bleached blonde look, it’s definitely a statement look and one that appeals to the younger market but it’s also one that needs lots of upkeep so it’s good for us as businesses.

So have a look at your men’s hair colour business, has it got the potential to grow?